Natural convection of nanofluid over vertical plate embedded in porous medium: prescribed surface heat flux

The aim of the present paper is to analyze the natural convection heat and mass transfer of nanofluids over a vertical plate embedded in a saturated Darcy porous medium subjected to surface heat and nanoparticle fluxes. To carry out the numerical solution, two steps are performed. The governing partial differential equations are firstly simplified into a set of highly coupled nonlinear ordinary differential equations by appropriate similarity variables, and then numerically solved by the finite difference method. The obtained similarity solution depends on four non-dimensional parameters, i.e., the Brownian motion parameter (N _b), the Buoyancy ratio (N _r), the thermophoresis parameter (N _t), and the Lewis number (Le). The variations of the reduced Nusselt number and the reduced Sherwood number with N _b and N _t for various values of Le and N _r are discussed in detail. Simulation results depict that the increase in N _b, N _t, or N _r decreases the reduced Nusselt number. An increase in the Lewis number increases both of the reduced Nusselt number and the Sherwood number. The results also reveal that the nanoparticle concentration boundary layer thickness is much thinner than those of the thermal and hydrodynamic boundary layers.     

Stability of free convection in a rotating porous layer distant from the axis of rotation

The stability and onset of convection in a rotating fluid saturated porous layer subject to a centrifugal body force and placed at an offset distance from the center of rotation is investigated analytically. The marginal stability criterion is established in terms of a critical centrifugal Rayleigh number and a critical wave number for different values of the parameter representing the dimensionless offset distance from the center of rotation. At the limit of an infinite distance from the center of rotation the results are identical to the convection resulting from heating a porous layer from below subject to the gravitational body force. At the other limit, when the parameter controlling the offset distance approaches zero, the results converge to previously found solutions for the convection in a porous layer adjacent to the axis of rotation. The results provide the stability map for all positive values of the parameter controlling the offset distance from the center of rotation, hence bridging the gap between the two extreme limit cases.     

Linear and non-linear double diffusive convection in a rotating porous layer using a thermal non-equilibrium model

Double diffusive convection in a fluid-saturated rotating porous layer heated from below and cooled from above is studied when the fluid and solid phases are not in local thermal equilibrium, using both linear and non-linear stability analyses. The Darcy model that includes the time derivative and Coriolis terms is employed as momentum equation. A two-field model that represents the fluid and solid phase temperature fields separately is used for energy equation. The onset criterion for stationary, oscillatory and finite amplitude convection is derived analytically. It is found that small inter-phase heat transfer coefficient has significant effect on the stability of the system. There is a competition between the processes of thermal and solute diffusions that causes the convection to set in through either oscillatory or finite amplitude mode rather than stationary. The effect of solute Rayleigh number, porosity modified conductivity ratio, Lewis number, diffusivity ratio, Vadasz number and Taylor number on the stability of the system is investigated. The non-linear theory based on the truncated representation of Fourier series method predicts the occurrence of subcritical instability in the form of finite amplitude motions. The effect of thermal non-equilibrium on heat and mass transfer is also brought out.     

Nonlinear stability of a convective motion in a porous layer driven by a horizontally periodic temperature gradient

The nonlinear global exponential pointwise stability of a vertical steady flow driven by a horizontal periodic temperature gradient in a porous layer is performed. It is shown that the stability threshold depends on the supremum of a quadratic functional, having non constant coefficients, and new in the literature on the convection problem. In solving the variational problem, a suitable functional transformation is used.Received: 27 January 2003, Accepted: 10 March 2003, Published online: 12 September 2003 Correspondence toF. Capone     

Nonlinear convection in a non-Darcy porous medium

In this paper, the natural convection in a non-Darcy porous medium is studied using a temperature-concentration-dependent density relation. The effect of the two parameters responsible for the nonlinear convection is analyzed for different values of the inertial parameter, dispersion parameters, Rayleigh number, Lewis number, Soret number, and Dufour number. In the aiding buoyancy, the tangential velocity increases steeply with an increase in the nonlinear temperature parameter and the nonlinear concentration parameter when the inertial effect is zero. However, when the inertial effect is non-zero, the effect of the nonlinear temperature parameter and the nonlinear concentration parameter on the tangential velocity is marginal. The concentration distribution varies appreciably and spreads in different ranges for different values of the double dispersion parameters, the inertial effect parameter, and also for the parameters which control the nonlinear temperature and the nonlinear concentration. Heat and mass transfer varies extensively with an increase in the nonlinear temperature parameter and the nonlinear concentration parameter depending on Dacry and non-Darcy porous media. The variation in heat and mass transfer when all the effects, i.e., the inertial effect, double dispersion ef- fects, and Soret and Dufour effects, are simultaneously zero and non-zero. The combined effects of the nonlinear temperature parameter, the nonlinear concentration parameter and buoyancy are analyzed. The effect of the nonlinear temperature parameter and the nonlinear concentration parameter and also the cross diffusion effects on heat and mass transfer are observed to be more in Darcy porous media compared with those in non- Darcy porous media. In the opposing buoyancy, the effect of the temperature parameter is to increase the heat and mass transfer rate, whereas that of the concentration parameter is to decrease.     

The horizontal intrusion layer of melt in a saturated porous medium

This article presents a theory of how the melt region advances as an intrusion layer along the top boundary of a solid phase-change material that is heated from the side. The phase-change material fills the pores of a solid matrix. We show that the thickness of the horizontal melt layer increases as x^3/5, where x is the horizontal distance measured by from the leading edge of the layer. The total length of the intrusion layer increases as t^3/4, and as T_max^5/4. Finite-difference simulations of convection melting in the Darcy-Rayleigh number range of 200–800 agree with the theoretical results. We also show that in a rectangular porous medium heated from the side, the size of the entire melt region is dominated by the melting contributed by the horizontal intrusion layer, if the time is great enough so that the group (Ste Fo)^3/4 is greater than 1.     

Penetrative convection in a horizontally isotropic porous layer

Penetrative convection in a horizontally isotropic porous layer is investigated primarily using an internal heat sink model and alternatively, a quadratic density temperature law. Employing the heat sink model, we show that the temporal growth rate for the linearised system is real, which allows us to perform a linear instability analysis. A nonlinear energy analysis is also presented, yielding a global stability threshold. We compare the heat sink model to the quadratic density model and find that the linearised systems are adjoint, implying that the instability boundaries which can be derived from the two models are the same. Received April 12, 2002 / Published online September 4, 2002 RID="a" ID="a" e-mail: Magdalen.Carr@durham.ac.uk RID="b" ID="b" e-mail: s.d.putter@tue.nl Communicated by Brian Straughan, Durham     

The inertial effect on the natural convection flow within a fluid-saturated porous medium

The general momentum equation for fluid flow within a porous medium is supposedly valid for any fluid-porous medium configuration. One of the main concerns of using the general equations refers to the inclusion of both inertia terms, namely, the convective inertia term and the Forchheimer term. In this study, we go beyond the important discussion about the correctness of including both terms in the general momentum equations by focusing upon the effect of the convective inertia term on the heat transfer results. The fluid-porous medium system considered here is a cavity bounded by solid surfaces with vertical walls maintained at constant but different temperatures. The natural convection problem is solved numerically, and the results are compared with a general theory developed by using the method of scale analysis. It is demonstrated that the convective inertia term effect upon the heat transfer results is minor for 0.01 ≤ Pr ≤ 1, 10 ≤ Ra_D ≤ 10⁴, 10⁻⁸ ≤ Da ≤ 10⁻², and porosities 0.4 and 0.8. It is also shown that, contrary to the general belief, the convective inertial effect upon the heat transfer within the cavity is minimized when the Prandtl number is reduced.     

Boundary-layer non-Newtonian flow over vertical plate in porous medium saturated with nanofluid

The free convective heat transfer to the power-law non-Newtonian flow from a vertical plate in a porous medium saturated with nanofluid under laminar conditions is investigated. It is considered that the non-Newtonian nanofluid obeys the mathematical model of power-law. The model used for the nanofluid incorporates the effects of Brownian motion and thermophoresis. The partial differential system governing the problem is transformed into an ordinary system via a usual similarity transformation. The numerical solutions of the resulting ordinary system are obtained. These solutions depend on the power-law index n, Lewis number Le, buoyancy-ratio number N _r, Brownian motion number N _b, and thermophoresis number N _t. For various values of n and Le, the effects of the influence parameters on the fluid behavior as well as the reduced Nusselt number are presented and discussed.     

Vibration effect on convection onset in a system consisting of a horizontal pure liquid layer and a layer of liquid-saturated porous medium

The onset of convection in a system of two horizontal layers (a pure liquid and a porous medium saturated with the same liquid) heated from below under the action of vertical vibration is investigated. For describing the free thermal convection, in the liquid layer the Boussinesq approximation and in the porous layer the Darcy-Boussinesq approximation are used. In the limiting case of a thin liquid layer, effective boundary conditions on the upper boundary of the porous layer with account for convection in the liquid layer are obtained and it is shown that vibration has a stabilizing effect, whereas the presence of a liquid layer leads to destabilization. For an arbitrary liquid to porous layer thickness ratio the onset of convection is investigated numerically. In the case of a thin liquid layer there are two (short-and long-wave) unstable modes. In the case of thick layers the neutral curves are unimodal. Vibration has a stabilizing effect on perturbations with any wave number but affects short-wave perturbations much more strongly than long-wave ones.     

Double diffusive convection of anomalous density fluids in a porous cavity

A numerical study has been performed to analyze the combined effect of temperature and species gradients on the buoyancy-driven natural convection flow of cold water near its density extremum contained in a porous cavity. The governing equations are descretized using the finite volume method. The results of the investigation are presented in the form of steady-state streamlines, velocity vectors, isotherms, and isoconcentrationlines. The results are discussed for different porosities, Darcy numbers, and Grashof numbers. The heat and mass transfer rates calculated are found to behave nonlinearly with hot wall temperature. The heat and mass transfer are increased with increasing Darcy number and porosity. It is found that the convective heat and mass transfer rate are greatly affected by the presence of density maximum.     

MHD natural convection in porous media-filled enclosures

In this work, the magnetohydrodynamics （MHD） natural convection heat transfer problem inside a porous medium filled with inclined rectangular enclosures is investigated numerically. The boundary conditions selected on the enclosure are two adiabatic and two isothermal walls. The governing equations, continuity, and Forchheimer extension of the Darcy law and energy are transformed into dimensionless forms by using a set of suitable variables, and then solved by using a finite difference scheme. The governing parameters are the magnetic influence number, the Darcy Rayleigh number, the inclination angle, and the aspect ratio of the enclosure. It is found that the magnetic influence number and the inclination angle have pronounced effects on the fluid flow and heat transfer in porous media-filled enclosures.     

Magnetohydrodynamics convective flow in a vertical slot through a porous medium

An analysis is presented with magnetohydrodynamics natural convective flow of a viscous Newtonian fluid saturated porous medium in a vertical slot. The flow in the porous media has been modeled using the Brinkman model. The fully-developed two-dimensional flow from capped to open ends is considered for which a continuum of solutions is obtained. The influence of pertinent parameters on the flow is delineated and appropriate conclusions are drawn. The asymptotic behaviour and the volume flux are analyzed and incorporated graphically for the three-parameter family of solution.     

Linear stability of triple-diffusive convection in micropolar ferromagnetic fluid saturating porous medium

The triple-diffusive convection in a micropolar ferromagnetic fluid layer heated and soluted from below is considered in the presence of a transverse uniform magnetic field. An exact solution is obtained for a flat fluid layer contained between two free boundaries. A linear stability analysis and a normal mode analysis method are carried out to study the onset convection. For stationary convection, various parameters such as the medium permeability, the solute gradients, the non-buoyancy magnetization, and the micropolar parameters (i.e., the coupling parameter, the spin diffusion parameter, and the micropolar heat conduction parameter) are analyzed. The critical magnetic thermal Rayleigh number for the onset of instability is determined numerically for a sufficiently large value of the buoyancy magnetization parameter M ₁. The principle of exchange of stabilities is found to be true for the micropolar fluid heated from below in the absence of the micropolar viscous effect, the microinertia, and the solute gradients. The micropolar viscous effect, the microinertia, and the solute gradient introduce oscillatory modes, which are non-existent in their absence. Sufficient conditions for the non-existence of overstability are also obtained.     

Fluid convection in a rotating porous layer under modulated temperature on the boundaries

The linear stability of thermal convection in a rotating horizontal layer of fluid-saturated porous medium, confined between two rigid boundaries, is studied for temperature modulation, using Brinkman’s model. In addition to a steady temperature difference between the walls of the porous layer, a time-dependent periodic perturbation is applied to the wall temperatures. Only infinitesimal disturbances are considered. The combined effect of rotation, permeability and modulation of walls’ temperature on the stability of flow through porous medium has been investigated using Galerkin method and Floquet theory. The critical Rayleigh number is calculated as function of amplitude and frequency of modulation, Taylor number, porous parameter and Prandtl number. It is found that both, rotation and permeability are having stabilizing influence on the onset of thermal instability. Further it is also found that it is possible to advance or delay the onset of convection by proper tuning of the frequency of modulation of the walls’ temperature.     

Lie symmetry group transformation for MHD natural convection flow of nanofluid over linearly porous stretching sheet in presence of thermal stratification

The magnetohydrodynamics(MHD) convection flow and heat transfer of an incompressible viscous nanofluid past a semi-infinite vertical stretching sheet in the presence of thermal stratification are examined.The partial differential equations governing the problem under consideration are transformed by a special form of the Lie symmetry group transformations,i.e.,a one-parameter group of transformations into a system of ordinary differential equations which are numerically solved using the Runge-Kutta-Gillbased shooting method.It is concluded that the flow field,temperature,and nanoparticle volume fraction profiles are significantly influenced by the thermal stratification and the magnetic field.     

Bounds on convective heat transport in a rotating porous layer

Using the background field variational method, bounds on convective heat transport in a rotating porous layer heated from below are derived from the primitive equations. The enhancement of heat transport beyond the minimal conduction value (the Nusselt number Nu) is bounded in terms of the dimensionless temperature difference across the layer (the Rayleigh number Ra) according to

This rigorous upper bound shows that rotation has a retarding effect on convective heat transport.     

Weakly nonlinear stability analysis of triple diffusive convection in a Maxwell fluid saturated porous layer

The weakly nonlinear stability of the triple diffusive convection in a Maxwell fluid saturated porous layer is investigated. In some cases, disconnected oscillatory neutral curves are found to exist, indicating that three critical thermal Darcy-Rayleigh numbers are required to specify the linear instability criteria. However, another distinguishing feature predicted from that of Newtonian fluids is the impossibility of quasi-periodic bifurcation from the rest state. Besides, the co-dimensional two bifurcation points are located in the Darcy-Prandtl number and the stress relaxation parameter plane. It is observed that the value of the stress relaxation parameter defining the crossover between stationary and oscillatory bifurcations decreases when the Darcy-Prandtl number increases. A cubic Landau equation is derived based on the weakly nonlinear stability analysis. It is found that the bifurcating oscillatory solution is either supercritical or subcritical, depending on the choice of the physical parameters. Heat and mass transfers are estimated in terms of time and area-averaged Nusselt numbers.     

Bifurcation analysis for thermal convection in a rotating porous layer

The linear and weakly nonlinear thermal convection in a rotating porous layer is investigated by constructing a simplified model involving a system of fifth-order nonlinear ordinary differential equations. The flow in the porous medium is described by Lap wood-Brinkman-extended Darcy model with fluid viscosity different from effective viscosity. Conditions for the occurrence of possible bifurcations are obtained. It is established that Hopf bifurcation is possible only at a lower value of the Rayleigh number than that of simple bifurcation. In contrast to the non-rotating case, it is found that the ratio of viscosities as well as the Darcy number plays a dual role on the steady onset and some important observations are made on the stability characteristics of the system. The results obtained from weakly nonlinear theory reveal that, the steady bifurcating solution may be either sub-critical or supercritical depending on the choice of physical parameters. Heat transfer is calculated in terms of Nusselt number.     

Linear and nonlinear double diffusive convection in a rotating sparsely packed porous layer using a thermal non-equilibrium model

Double diffusive convection in a fluid-saturated rotating porous layer is studied when the fluid and solid phases are not in local thermal equilibrium, using both linear and nonlinear stability analyses. The Brinkman model that includes the Coriolis term is employed as the momentum equation. A two-field model that represents the fluid and solid phase temperature fields separately is used for the energy equation. The onset criterion for stationary, oscillatory, and finite amplitude convection is derived analytically. It is found that small inter-phase heat transfer coefficient has significant effect on the stability of the system. There is a competition between the processes of thermal diffusion, solute diffusion, and rotation that causes the convection to set in through either oscillatory or finite amplitude mode rather than stationary. The effect of solute Rayleigh number, porosity modified conductivity ratio, Lewis number, diffusivity ratio, Vadasz number, and Taylor number on the stability of the system is investigated. The nonlinear theory based on the truncated representation of Fourier series method predicts the occurrence of subcritical instability in the form of finite amplitude motions. The effect of thermal non-equilibrium on heat and mass transfer is also brought out. Some of the convection systems previously reported in the literature is shown to be special cases of the system presented in this study.